Prakash Ambedkar demands candidature for Jarange-Patil from Jalna

Prakash Ambedkar of VBA presents demands to MVA, including candidature for Manoj Jarange-Patil. Seat-sharing talks ongoing for upcoming elections in Maharashtra.

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar continues to be a tough ally for the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA). In a letter handed to the alliance during its meeting on Wednesday, the Dalit leader has put forth his demands, which include candidature to Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil from the Jalna Lok Sabha constituency. The VBA has also sent a list of 26 constituencies that it claims it has the ability to fight from, and asked the MVA to offer it seats from the list. The final meeting on seat-sharing will be held soon between Ambedkar, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and the Congress high command.

Prakash Ambedkar

“The MVA’s common candidates should be Manoj Jarange-Patil from the Jalna Lok Sabha constituency and Dr Abhijeet Vaidya from the Pune Lok Sabha constituency,” says the letter. “The MVA should have at least 15 OBC candidates out of a total of 48 across the four parties. All the parties should give a written commitment that neither they nor their elected representatives will join the BJP pre- or post-polls. The MVA should have at least three candidates from the minority communities across the four parties.” Dr Abhijeet Vaidya is son of veteran socialist leader, the late Bhai Vaidya.

Ambedkar’s party also handed over a list of 26 constituencies where the party claims it is fully prepared to fight elections on its own but is now open to a discussion with MVA. “We have given them a list of constituencies where we have made preparations in the last five years,” said VBA vice-president Dhairyavardhan Pundkar. “Now the MVA leaders have told us that they will discuss this and inform us. The MVA has agreed to sit for another meeting.” The 26 LS constituencies include Akola, Amaravati and Aurangabad among others and three seats in Mumbai—Mumbai South-Central, Mumbai North-Central and Mumbai North-East.

From the beginning of the seat-sharing talks, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was firm on the inclusion of the VBA in the MVA. Prakash Ambedkar, on the other hand, kept playing hide-and-seek with the MVA. First, he skipped the meeting. His representative claimed that MVA leaders did not give him proper respect. Later, Ambedkar attended the meeting but avoided the seat-sharing talks and only spoke about the common minimum programme for the alliance.

MVA leaders, after the meeting, however claimed that the seat-sharing discussion was almost complete and the party chiefs would soon finalise it. “Today’s MVA meeting was fruitful,” said Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut after the meeting. “We are almost at the final stage of seat-sharing. The VBA has submitted its expectations and we are discussing them. The final meeting will soon be held by MVA party chiefs Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Prakash Ambedkar and the Congress leader.” Raut refused to discuss the demand pertaining to Jarange-Patil’s candidature, saying that Ambedkar had just expressed his expectations and not put up any demand. Raut also expressed confidence that Ambedkar would fight the elections in alliance with the MVA.

NCP leader Jitendra Awhad said there was no dispute over seat-sharing. “Prakash Ambedkar will not do anything that will help the BJP, as the party is destroying the democratic and constitutional values of the country written by his grandfather Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said.